


The Amethyst Saga

by marysiak



Series: The Amethyst Saga [1]
Category: Labyrinth (1986), The Company of Wolves - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1996-09-10
Updated: 1996-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 05:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8000893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marysiak/pseuds/marysiak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jareth kidnaps another baby, two in fact. Amethyst must solve the Labyrinth to rescue them. Some of my earliest fanfic. Totally Mary-Sue. Oh and I named the character Hogwart way before Harry Potter came out, so no intended reference. Aside from Jareth it's mostly new characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Apologies to Marvel, Henson Productions and whoever made Company of   
Wolves. It should however be noted that the following characters belong   
to me: Amethyst, Louis, Czeslaw, Ander, Hogwart and Millbury the lion.   
   
   
 **The Amethyst Saga by Amethyst**  
 **Labyrinth II: The Origins of Amethyst (2nd edition)**   
   
   
        It was a Saturday evening in Glasgow. Amethyst was watching    
Labyrinth on the TV, her stepmother and father were out for dinner and    
her sister was spending the night with her friend Lizzie. In the kitchen    
her young half-brothers Louis and Czeslaw were asleep in the bed recess.   
   
    "Give me the child."   
   
   "Sarah beware. I have been generous up till now. But I can be cruel."   
   
   "Generous! What've you done that's generous?"   
   
   "Every thing! Everything that you wanted I have done. You asked that    
the child be taken. I took him. You cowered before me. I was frightening.    
I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down and I have    
done it all for you! I am exhausted from living up to your expectations   
of me. Isn't that generous?"   
   
    "Give the guy a break Sarah, he's got a point!"   
   
    "Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered I have fought my way   
here to the castle beyond the Goblin City. For my will is as strong as   
yours and my kingdom..."   
    
   "Stop! Wait. Look Sarah. Look what I'm offering. Your dreams!"   
   
   "And my kingdom as great."   
   
   "I ask for so little. Just let me rule you and you can have everything   
that you want."   
   
   "My kingdom as great...damn!. I can never remember that line."   
   
   "Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave."   
   
   "My kingdom as great ... my kingdom as great."   
   
    "Don't say it."   
     
   "You have no power over me!"   
   
    "Too late, she said it. Another great opportunity wasted." Hearing a    
noise at the door Amethyst turned around. "Louis what are you doing out    
of bed? Or more to the point how did you get out of bed?"   
   
   "Samma don' know."   
   
   "Well let's put you back."   
   
   "Not tired. Wanna watch Robin Hood."   
   
   "Louis it's far too late for that. If Mummy and Daddy come home and    
find you up I'm for it." she lifted him up and started to take him back    
to the kitchen.    
   
   "Don' wanna go to bed! Not tired!" Louis started to holler loudly.   
   
   "Oh for pete's sake!" she dumped him on the couch. "Sit nice on the    
couch then."   
   
   "Dummy."   
   
   "I'll get it." Heading through to the kitchen she paused at the door   
and spoke with a smile, "I wish the goblins would come and take you away   
right now." She left the room.   
   
     In his throne room Jareth froze indescisively staring into the crystal   
ball. "What should I do Ander? Things went so badly last time with Sarah."   
   
   "That was so long ago my Lord. Surely it will be different this time.    
She said the words, the goblins are only waiting for yours."   
   
   "I ... Very well. Let them take the child."   
   
   "Your will Lord."   
   
    Amethyst found the dummy down the back of the bed and returned to the    
living room to find the light out. The light from the hall flickered too    
as she pushed the door open further and then died leaving her in the dark.   
   
   "Spook! If I didn't know better I'd think my little brother had been   
kidnapped by goblins. Hah! I wish. Louis where are you?" she stepped into   
the room. "Knowing my luck its only bloodsucking vampires from the pits   
of hell." She heard a noise behind her and froze, I must not fear. Fear    
is the mindkiller. Fear is the little-death that, oh bugger that, "Louis    
is that you?" Taking a breath she turned around, "Louis?"   
   
   From behind her came a voice, the voice, "The child is gone, as you    
asked."   
   
   She froze a moment before turning slowly to face him. He was,    
surprisingly enough, the spitting image of David Bowie. He was dressed in    
a billowing white shirt and black leather waistcoat, black leggings and    
tall boots. Despite the darkness she could see him clearly silhouetted    
against the full moon that had not been there when she left the room. The    
air sparkled faintly.   
   
   "It really is you."   
   
   "What did you expect?"   
   
   "Does this mean Louis is in your castle and I have to go find him?"   
she asked with a hopeful smile.   
   
   "I see you know the rules already."   
   
   "Of course, but I can't leave Czeslaw alone in the house."   
   
   "Then I shall take him too. Happy?"    
   
   "Remind me to keep my mouth shut next time."   
   
   Jareth stepped aside revealing the window which had changed to become    
a glass door. It opened to reveal the barren hillside above the Labyrinth.    
She smiled at him and stepped through. He followed close behind her and    
slid an arm around her waist to whisper in her ear, "Are you ready to    
begin?"   
   
   "I suppose so. I hope you have some new toys in your Labyrinth, I    
don't want to be bored."   
   
   "I am anything but boring." He stepped back.   
   
   "Well say it then."   
   
   "Very well. You have thirteen hours to solve my Labyrinth before your    
baby brothers become one of us forever. Such a pity." and he was gone.   
    
        Amethyst looked at the spot where he'd disappeared for a moment    
and then turned her gaze outward. In front of her the hills stretched    
into mountain ranges topped with snow and hazy clouds. She wondered   
what was out there, if anything. There was no mention of them in the   
film. Behind her lay the Labyrinth and beyond that yet more mountains.    
The Labyrinth itself was a vast patchwork of interlocked textures. Harsh    
stone wall, green hedge, dank wet marshland, copper coloured autumn    
woods, mounded rubbish heaps, small villages here and there and in the    
centre the Goblin City and the high walls of the castle beyond it. The    
castle was larger than she expected, a city of stone turrets and flying    
buttresses far off in the distance. She laughed and started down the hill.    
   
    Back in his throne room Jareth watched her in the crystal he held. She   
was more beautiful than Sarah in his opinion, he thought, and more ...    
interesting. Sarah had been too straight-laced, not open enough to the    
possibilities he had offered her. She had been a mistake right from the    
very start. But this one could turn out to be more than even he had hoped    
for. As long as she made it through the Labyrinth, the danger was that    
she thought of it as too much of a game. The Labyrinth was dangerous and    
however much he wanted her it was against the rules to help her. But he    
would certainly not hinder her. She had reached the base of the hill. The    
elder child escaped from the woman he had set to watch him and climbed up    
into Jareths' lap. Louis gazed into the crystal too.    
   
   "Am-thyst," he said.   
   
   "That's right. She is coming here to see you."   
   
   Louis reached out to catch the crystal and Jareth threw it high into    
the air where it vanished.   
    
   Amethyst had reached the wall around the Labyrinth and was walking    
along it looking for the door. The sun was hot and the air was thick with    
fairies flying around the silver-white flowers of the creeping vine that    
twined around the wall. She took off her stifling grey polo-neck to swat    
at them, underneath she wore a dark blue vest-top. Eventually she came to    
a small building by a pool, sitting on a deck-chair dozing was a skinny    
Goblin in a string vest.   
   
   "Excuse me?" The Goblin opened his eyes. "What happened to Hoggle?"   
   
   "'Im! 'E ain't 'ardly hever in the Labyrinth no more. Spends all 'is   
time on Earth 'e does these days. I'm the new gate-keeper round 'ere.   
What d'ya want?"   
   
   Thinking back to the correct phrasing Amethyst said, "How do I get   
into the Labyrinth?"   
   
   Raising an eyebrow he gestured to the wall which opened, "You gets in   
there. You must be Amethyst. I 'eard you knew your ways about this place.   
Jus don' expect me to save ye cause I ain't Hoggle, I'm Hogwart, an' I    
got better things to do with me time than run around hafter 'umans."   
   
   "Fair enough," said Amethyst steping through the door. "But at least    
Hoggle kept the fairies down," she added slapping at one as it tried to   
take a chunk out of her arm. She turned left and started along the    
passage dragging her hand lightly along the inside wall so as not to miss    
the opening.   
   
   "Hmph!" said Hogwart slamming the door closed as he left. "'Er problem   
is she's too confident. She'll come to a sticky end you mark my words.   
Besides what the 'ell's she want wif Jareth! Selfish, stuck up an child-   
ish 'e is. Can't fink o' anyone ood want t'spend ..."   
   
   "I'll pretend I didn't here that Hogbreath."   
   
   Hogwart spun around and fell to his knees. "My Lord Jareth!"   
   
   "She won't come to a sticky end because you are going to help her.   
You will follow behind her and make sure nothing goes wrong."      
   
   "But my Lord?"   
   
   "Do you understand?"   
   
   "Yes my Lord."   
   
   "And do something about all these damn fairies!" he slapped at one of    
them and vanished.   
   
   "Should a known this cushy job was too good t'be true," grumbled    
Hogwart as he made his way back into the Labyrinth to follow Amethyst.   
    
   Meanwhile Amethyst had found the first entrance and was debating which   
way to go. The worm in the film had said that left went straight to the   
castle but knowing the Labyrinth she doubted that was still the case. She   
peered down both ways, they looked identical. If she went right then    
there was a chance she might know where she was, if she went left she    
might get to the castle quicker. She dug a penny out her pocket to flip,    
heads right, tails left. It was heads, she headed right and out of the    
creepy gaze of the eye-ball plants.   
    
        As she walked along the stonework became less dank and the weeds   
faded away, the messy path became clean paving stones and she had entered   
the next region. Not wanting to get turned around in this area where every-   
thing looked the same she looked up to the sky for a reference point, but   
there was nothing but lightening orange haze, she couldn't even see what   
direction the sun was rising in. Oh well, she thought, I'll just have   
to remember which way I'm pointing each time I turn. The castle should be    
to my left at the moment, so that's the way I'll go. She turned into the    
first left turn. As long as she kept going in she should find an entrance    
to the next area eventually. But how long would it take? As she walked   
she thought about what had happened. Where did the film Labyrinth fit   
into all this? Had the Labyrinth existed before the film was made and if   
it had how had the story reached Earth? Perhaps Sarah had been involved   
in writing the movie under an assumed name. She must have been around   
for the casting too in that case. She thought perhaps it might be better   
if she had never seen the film. It made it seem too much like her own   
private fantasy and less like the dangerous place it most likely was.   
But then if she had never seen the movie perhaps she wouldn't be here at   
all. Then there was her not too minor obsession with Jareth, all based   
on a single film. How much did she really know about him? But she   
couldn't let the chance that she was right about him slip away, you   
have to take risks sometimes. She just hoped that Louis and Czeslaw   
didn't end up paying for her risk taking.   
    
   Meanwhile back at the castle Jareth too was considering his descisions.   
Hogwarts words kept slipping back into his head. 'Besides what the 'ell's    
she want wif Jareth! Selfish, stuck up an childish 'e is. Can't fink o'    
anyone ood want t'spend ...' What if he was right? Amethyst knew nothing   
about him, just like Sarah she was chasing dreams. And everyone knows   
dreams never come true the way you think they will.   
   
    As it turned out it took the better part of four hours before she came   
face to face with the two doors.   
   
   "About bloody time too!" she exclaimed, sick to the back teeth of    
stone walls.   
   
   "Well that's not very polite," said the top left face.   
   
   "Well I'm not feeling dreadfully polite," she answered. "So are you   
going to tell me which door leads to the castle or not?"   
   
   "Of course but you must bear in mind that one of us always tells the    
truth and one of us always lies."   
   
   "Oh rubbish. I always thought this was the stupidest bit in the film.   
Sarah just instantly believes you, which for a start would mean that   
you are the one that always tells the truth and besides who's to say you're   
not both lying?"   
   
   The four heads all exchanged glances.   
   
   "It's a good point," said the bottom left one.   
   
   "So how are you going to decide which door to go through?" asked the   
top right.   
   
   "I don't know. I know there's probably an oubliette behind you,"   
she said pointing to the left. "And I've no idea what's behind you. Well   
I took the route Sarah took before, I think I'll try something different    
this time. Open up." She moved to the right door which opened before her.   
She stepped through cautiously feeling with one foot for any traps, as    
soon as she was through the door shut behind her. She looked about. She    
was in a part of the Labyrinth she hadn't seen before. The path was soil    
once more and the walls were natural rock, above her she could see a thin    
sliver of sky. There was patchy vegetation here and there and she could    
see several small animals scuttling for cover. She began to make her way    
towards the centre again. It was cool in the shade of the granite walls    
and she pulled on her jumper again.   
    
   Hogwart scurried through walled maze huffing and puffing like a steam   
engine on its last legs. He turned a corner and raced straight into the    
two doors falling to the ground.    
   
   "Which ... hunh ... door did the ... pfeuw ... girl go ... wheeze ...   
through?" he gasped.   
   
   "I'm afraid you can only ask one of us," said the top left head.   
   
   "And I must warn you, one of us ... " began the top right head.   
   
   "Oh shut up will you. Jareth said to follow the girl so I'm doing   
it, now which way did she go?"   
   
   The two top heads exchanged glances and then the left one spoke, "She   
went this way." The left door opened.   
   
   Hogwart picked himself up and ran through only to plunge down a hole a   
few feet from the door which swung closed.   
   
   "Jareth indeed," muttered the top right head.      
    
   Meanwhile Amethyst was nearing the end of the cliff maze which had    
been strangely simple. She could see the end of the path she was on    
opening out into woodland and as far as she could tell she was still    
walking toward the castle. She glanced at her watch, four and a half    
hours gone.   
   
   "If I didn't know better I'd say this was a piece of cake."   
   
   She heard a snarl from above and a large cat leapt from the top of the   
cliff to block her way. It was a lion.   
   
   "Umm," Amethyst pondered fainting or running for her life but sus-   
pected either of these would give the lion the advantage, like it didn't    
already have the advantage? Given the few choices remaining she decided    
to try negotiating with it. "Hello?"   
   
   The lion sat down, "Hello to you too. I suppose you want past."   
   
   Amethyst bit back the 'You can talk?' question. "Yes I do."   
   
   "So give me one good reason why I shouldn't eat you."   
   
   "I'm too skinny, no decent meat on me, it'd be a complete waste of    
time and energy."   
   
   "Oh I don't know about that. Lean meat is always preferred to fatty    
meat you know, a much nicer flavour. Try again."   
   
    "Umm... my parents would be upset?"   
   
    The lion simply regarded her.   
   
    "My little brothers will get turned into goblins if I don't save   
them?"   
   
    "Now that would be a crime. Little children are so much tastier than   
goblins."   
   
    "Umm... yes." Amethyst looked worried.   
       
    "Oh don't look like that," the lion said. "I'm not actually going to   
eat you. Though I am supposed to you know. But, to be frank, it's boring   
as hell sitting around here doing nothing waiting for people to eat and   
I'm not really all that hungry. If I eat you then I'm back to being bored,   
so what's your name then?"   
   
    Glad of the reprieve she answered, "I'm Amethyst. What's your name?"   
   
   "My name is Millbury. So what was that about your little brothers?"   
   
   "I'm here to find my little brothers Louis and Czeslaw." She proceeded    
to explain what had happened.   
   
    Hogwart swore loudly. The weedlike helping hands that used to thrive   
along the walls of the oubliette tunnels had been removed a few months a   
ago in the annual clear out and as a result there were only a few down    
the sides that had managed to get a foothold and he had fallen straight    
down the hole with no help at all. Why had Jareth sent him to follow the    
girl. He knew little about the Labyrinth and couldn't keep up with her    
long legs. This was all Hoggle's fault, if he'd stayed in the Labyrinth    
then it would be him stuck in this damned hole and not Hogwart. Jareth    
was going to be so angry with him.    
    
   Jareth spoke, "It looks as though Amethyst is doing just fine without   
Hogwarts help. But I suppose I better get him out the oubliette anyway,   
just in case. Ander?"   
   
   "Yes Lord?"   
   
   "Send someone to drag Hogwart out the oubliette and tell him next time   
he's so careless it'll be the Bog of Eternal Stench he lands in."   
   
   "Yes Lord."   
   
         As Amethyst and Millbury left the cliffs and entered the forest   
they realised that this was a populated part of the Labyrinth. They could    
smell woodsmoke and hear church bells in the distance. The wood itself was    
very beautiful. Tall pillars of silver towered in the air, crowned by the    
bronze leaves of beech trees in autumn. Beneath them lay soft grass and   
tangled bramble plants heavy with sweet, black fruit. Amethyst was about   
to step off the path and fill her empty stomach when Millbury stopped her.   
   
  "Never stray from the path," he warned.   
   
  "What?"   
   
  "Listen carefully and look deep into the woods."    
   
   Amethyst listened and heard faint barks and howls, in behind the trees   
and undergrowth she saw the red gleam of eyes. "Wolves!" She thought of   
the film "Company of Wolves", this wood was indeed the spitting image of   
that one and in that case definitly not a safe place to be.   
    
   "If you left the path you would be lost forever, even I am not strong    
enough to fight them all."   
   
   "But the most dangerous of all are those that are hairy inside," she   
murmured.   
   
   Millbury looked at her surprised, "Indeed. You are wiser to the dangers    
than I would have thought. We must be wary of any we meet in this part of   
the Labyrinth, for werewolves, as well as their cousins, are common in   
this place."   
   
   "What about the village, is it safe?"   
   
   "It is not as dangerous as the forest but still I would not stop here."   
   
   They carried on along the path a little faster than before. Amethyst    
glanced into the forest, there were more red eyes visible. Her stomach    
rumbled at the sight of the brambles now joined by sweet wild strawberries    
and the odd cherry tree. Someone definitly wanted her to step into the    
woods, but she wasn't that hungry, yet.   
       
   Behind them Hogwart was back on track, running along the path, when he   
caught sight of the bramble bushes. He paused and glanced around him. All   
this running had made him very thirsty and he was sure Jareth wouldn't   
notice if he stopped a moment to pick some brambles. He left the path and    
entered the woods.    
       
   Behind Hogwart was another figure. A handsome long haired man in fine   
clothing was following them. His eyebrows were heavy and they met in the    
middle.   
   
    Millbury and Amethyst entered the outskirts of the village. As they    
neared the clearing the trees had changed from beech and oak to golden   
leaved birch with brilliant white, peeling trunks and hawthorn and rowan    
both bright with red berries. The houses were rough, irreular sandstone   
and wood with roofs of grey slate and thatch. In the centre of the town   
was an open area with a stone well, around it ran several children. They    
were singing a nursery rhyme,   
   
   "A wolf jumped up one winters night,   
    And begged the moon to give him light,   
    For he'd many miles to run that night   
    Before he reached his den O! Den O! Den O!"   
   
One of them was a beautiful girl of about fifteen with deepest black wavy    
hair and pale white skin. Amethyst tried not to stare. Could she really    
be here in the middle of the story the film had told or did the girl just    
resemble Rosalee? The children stopped to stare at her, or more likely at    
the lion that walked at her side. Then one of the children looked back    
along the path they had appeared from and cried out as he ran into one   
of the houses.   
   
   "Wolf! Wolf!" The other children ran also, disappearing into their   
houses in an instant.   
   
   Amethyst turned to see a man behind her.   
   
   "Good afternoon young lady."   
   
   "Good afternoon. But if you will excuse me I am in quite a hurry."   
   
   "Of course you are and I can help you. There is a short cut out of    
the forest I know of. If you will come into the woods with me I will   
show you."   
   
   Millbury stepped in front of Amethyst, "I'm sure we can find our own    
way to the next level."   
   
   The man stared at him, "Or perhaps you have other things to worry about   
my feline friend. Like your own skin." He lifted his head and let out a    
howl. Several other howls came in response and then a huge pack of wolves    
entered the village they began advancing on Millbury. He growled and    
squared off to them but there were clearly too many for even him.   
   
   Amethyst could see this too, she called out to him, "Run Millbury!"   
   
   "I won't leave you."   
   
   "There's nothing you can do. The wolves will chase you if you run and    
then I'll only have him to deal with. So go!"   
   
   Millbury stood a minute longer and then, with a look of apology, he    
ran. The wolves ran after him baying in excitment.   
   
   "So now we are alone," he said taking her arm and leading her along    
the path out of the village.    
   
   She allowed him to lead her along as she worked on a plan. He was    
obviously far stronger than she so she must find a way to get him off    
his guard and then disable him. Only one strategy came to mind and not    
wanting to risk waiting any longer trying to think up another she decided    
to go for it.    
   
   "I'm tired of walking," she said. "Why don't we sit on the grass for a    
while and rest?"   
   
   "If you like," he answered. They sat down.   
   
   "You know you are very handsome, I thought werewolves were supposed to   
be monsters."   
   
   "Werewolf? What makes you say that?"   
   
   "Come now, I am no fool. The children called you wolf and your eye-   
brows do meet in the middle. Besides I've seen the film." She smiled   
fetchingly, "You know I always wanted to meet you so I could do this."   
   
   "What?"   
   
   "This." Amethyst pulled his face to her lips and kissed him. At first    
he was tense but then he relaxed a little pulling her closer. She allowed    
his tongue to probe into her mouth. After a few minutes, when she thought    
he wouldn't notice she drew her knee back a little and then, when he    
least expected it, she drove her knee as hard as she could into his balls.    
He fell back, his face bright red and she stood up and ran for her life    
along the path toward the exit out of the forest.   
    
   In the castle Jareth, who had been gripping his crystal ball almost   
hard enough to shatter it, laughed aloud.   
   
   "Look how easily she deceives him Ander, she is more two-faced than I   
gave her credit for." He looked into the ball again, "Hogwart is worse    
than useless. He'd be more likely to get her killed than help her. Besides   
I am not so sure I wish to help her. I shall leave him to the wolves."   
    
   Amethyst had run faster and longer than she thought herself capable   
but at last she came to a door set into a cliff wall. She fell against    
it gasing for breath.   
   
   "Millbury?"   
   
   She looked behind but all she could hear was the distant howling of    
the company of wolves.    
   
   "I'm sorry Millbury."   
   
   Opening the door she fell through it and it swung shut behind her. She   
dropped to her knees drawing ragged breaths through her rough throat   
until her lungs ceased to ache so.   
   
   "I am way too unfit for all this," she wheezed.   
   
   She stood slowly, her legs trembling and looked around. She was in a   
maze built of wooden stakes, the ground covered by wooden chips and the   
scent of pine and sap strong in the air. Amethyst leaned back against   
the fence to fully regain her breath and glanced at her watch. Nearly   
six hours gone, seven remaining.    
   
    Meanwhile back in the forest Millbury was doing a lot better than   
Amethyst thought. The wolves were many but they had been hunting    
all that day while Millbury had been sleeping and he kept them behind   
him without too much difficulty. He was just about to try and reverse   
the direction and head back toward Amethyst when he heard a faint voice.   
   
   "Ooh 'elp! Jaareth! Heeelp!"   
   
   Curious Millbury carried on in the direction of the cry to find a    
goblin hanging from the lower branches of a tree with a single wolf    
snapping at his heels. Not having time to discuss the matter Millbury    
leapt over the wolf and grabbed the goblin in his mouth and continued the    
race with one more wolf behind him. The goblin continued to scream loudly,    
he couldn't think why. Before him he could see the cliffs rising where he    
had entered the forest with Amethyst. The wolves were forbidden to    
leave the forest so once he passed out he would be safe, but there    
would be a forest and a hungry pack of wolves between him and Amethyst.   
Had she even escaped the werewolf, some protector he had been. Perhaps   
he should have just eaten her, better that than she become one of them.    
He suddenly remembered the goblin and dropped him onto the ground.   
   
   "Hello. I am Millbury and if you don't shut up I shall eat you."   
   
   The goblin shut up.   
   
   "Thank you. Now what were you doing in the wolves forest, I thought    
goblins knew better than to go there?"   
   
   "Well I guess I'm just stupid then. If you ain't gon to eat me can I   
go? I got business to do. Though Gawd knows 'ow I'm gon to get to th'other   
side of that damn forest now. Bloody 'ell."   
   
   "I was pondering that myself, I do believe I know a way around the    
forest. I'm heading there myself, why don't I give you a lift?"   
   
   "Well I s'pose so. I'm Hogwart."   
   
   "Well climb aboard Hogwart. I'm in a bit of a hurry myself."   
    
    Jareth was brooding, he had sent Ander away with Louis. This was all   
a mistake. Another mistake just like Sarah. He had believed her dreams,   
had thought he was giving her what she wanted. It had never even    
occured to him that she would turn him away. He had thought he knew her   
but he had never understood her at all. She had just been playing, with   
him, with her life. None of it had meant anything. "Toys" Amethyst had    
said. She was playing the game too, just like Sarah and just like Sarah    
if he let her win she would turn him away. That wasn't going to happen,    
not this time. He would keep her and the children whether they liked it or    
not. Who was to stop him? He was King was he not? He leapt to his feet   
and strode over to the window holding out a crystal to blow on the wind.    
It drifted across the Labyrinth to where Amethyst sat, her head back    
against the wooden fence as she caught her breath. Before she even    
noticed it was too late.   
   
   Amethyst was dreaming.   
   
   A ballroom. All in white. Marble pillars, white lace and sparkling   
beads, velvet cushions and fur rugs. All in brilliant white. And full   
of people, so many, laughing and dancing in such beautiful clothes.   
All earth colours rust and brown and orange. Lace and silk and    
velvet. She herself was wearing palest pink silk, boned and laced   
tight at her back like the others but the skirt was straight with    
only a slight bustle at the back folded with white. Her hair was    
loosely up in pale blonde curls and pale pink roses.    
   
   She wandered through the crowd watching their antics. There was some-   
thing strange about this place. She was there but it felt as if she   
wasn't, as if it wasn't quite reality. For a start there was no ceiling,    
the room just seemed to stop. She felt light-headed, dizzy. She couldn't   
seem to remember why she was here, who were these people?   
   
   Then she saw him. Jareth. Dressed in deepest black, a hole in the    
picture.    
   
   "There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes. A kind of pale jewel, open    
and closed. Within your eyes. I'll place the sky within your eyes."   
   
   She moved towards him but was stopped by a bustle of people, when they    
had passed he was gone.    
   
   "There's such a fooled heart, beating so fast. In search of new    
dreams, a love that will last. Within your heart. I'll place the moon,    
within your heart."   
   
   Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around. He stood   
before her. Taking her hand Jareth led Amethyst onto the dance floor and    
they began to waltz. She stopped worrying about why she was here. It    
didn't matter, nothing mattered now that he was here.    
   
   "As the pain sweeps through makes no sense for you. Every thrill has    
gone, wasn't too much fun at all. But I'll be there for you. As the world   
falls down. Falling down. Falling in love."   
   
   They danced and as she held him she faintly noticed the room getting    
darker and the sounds fading away.   
   
   "I'll paint you mornings of gold. I'll spin you Valentine evenings.   
Though we're strangers to love, we're choosing a path between the stars.   
I'll lay my love, between the stars. As the pain sweeps through makes no   
sense for you. Every thrill is gone, wasn't too much fun at all. But I'll    
be there for you. As the world falls down. Falling. Falling down. Falling.    
Falling in love."   
   
   Now there was only the flicker of candle light in an empty room and    
the song was ended. They stopped dancing. Jareth looked into her eyes,    
for a moment he felt a wave of guilt at what he was doing. She trusted    
him. But he stifled it, this was all a game to her. He must take her now    
while he had the chance and the thirteenth hour would pass unnoticed    
while she slept. She would never have the chance to betray him. He cupped   
her face and lowered his lips to hers in a gentle kiss that became more   
passionate as he pulled her against him.   
   
    Amethyst awoke on a pile of cushions in a candle lit room. She was    
naked but for a snow white sheet. She sat up and looked around, confused.   
   
   "Where am I?"   
   
   She draped the sheet around her and stood up, as she did so a clock   
chimed. She looked at it. Eleven o'clock. No wait, not eleven, twelve.   
The clock had thirteen hours on it. Thirteen?   
   
   "No!"   
   
   As memory flooded back she ran to the mirrored wall and grabbed up a   
chair. She smashed through the glass and fell slowly through the pieces   
of the ballroom back in her own clothes, landing lightly in amongst the    
piles of rubbish. In the distance rose the walls of the Goblin City, she    
started towards it. There wasn't much time left. The rubbish heaps were    
ugly but at least they didn't smell of much. Seemed to be mostly broken    
toys and old furniture. Here and there a broken figure picked through the    
junk stuffing items into a sack or a pocket. They didn't seem to see her    
and she moved past them quickly. She didn't like it here, there was an    
air of despair and loneliness. These people all seemed lost. If she    
didn't hurry she would be lost too, why had Jareth done that? She had   
thought he wanted to help her.   
   
    Hogwart and Millbury had made their way around the forest and arrived    
at its exit on the other side. But Amethyst was not there. Knowing she    
was heading for the castle they made their way to the city gates hoping    
to catch up with her. It was slow going but at least Millbury, unlike    
Hogwart, seemed to know where he was going.   
   
   They spotted Amethyst not far from the gates which were guarded by two    
goblins who were, unfortunatly, awake.    
   
   "Millbury!" exclaimed Amethyst. "You're alright."   
   
   "Indeed. As are you. Shall we proceed to the castle?"   
   
   "Yes, we don't have that much time left. But how do we get past the    
guards and that robot thing?"   
   
   "Hogwart is a goblin, they'll open the gates for him," said Millbury.   
"You climb on my back and when they're open we'll run through them before   
they close again."   
   
   "Sounds too easy, will it work?" Amethyst asked Hogwart.   
   
   "Should do. Them gates is pretty slow, takes 'em ages to get 'em    
closed again. You two'll be 'alf way to the castle before they do. As    
long as you don't say it's a piece of cake."   
   
   "I'll bear that in mind, let's do it." Amethyst paused and turned back    
to Hogwart. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you weren't going    
to help."   
   
   "Don' ask. Just don' ask." Hogwart walked up to the guards. "'Ello    
mates. Care to let me through?"   
   
   The guards snapped to semi-attention. "Name and business," demanded    
one.   
   
   "I'm Hogwart an' I'm 'ere to visit me ole Mum."   
   
   The two guards exchanged glances. "Fair enough, " one said and opened    
the doors. When they reached their widest Amethyst and Millbury charged,    
Millbury picking Hogwart up in his teeth as they passed. The road to the    
castle was not long as most of the city was at the other side and    
Millbury was fast. They were at the castle door in minutes.   
    
   
   "My Lord!" cried Ander bursting into the room.   
   
   "Yes?"   
   
   "The girl!"   
   
   "What of her?"   
   
   "She's here with the goblin and the lion. They're through the gates   
and almost at the castle door!"   
   
    "What? She should still be asleep. Well don't just stand there,    
call out the guards."   
   
   "It's too late for that Lord Jareth."   
   
   "Then I'll take the children and hide them, you stop her."   
   
   "Yes Lord." Jareth left and Ander took his place in the throne. "Not   
this time Lord Jareth. You've made a mistake with this one alright but   
not the mistake you think. She's not playing games with you and I'm going    
to prove it," he muttered to himself.   
    
   "Help me open the door," cried Amethyst.    
   
   Behind them the goblins were pouring out of their houses. Millbury put   
his front paws flat on the door and pushed, it swung open and they fell   
inside swinging it closed again behind them. They looked around. The    
castle seemed deserted.   
   
   "This place is enormous," said Amethyst. "How will we find Louis?"   
   
   "If it's any help, I can smell a human this way," said Millbury.   
   
   "You bet it's a help, come on Hogwart." They followed Millbury.   
   
   "Do this Hogwart, do that Hogwart, come here Hogwart..." muttered   
Hogwart as he dragged behind the other two.   
   
   They climbed the stairs into the throne room Amethyst recognized from   
the film. Lounging in the chair was a young man. He was dressed in a    
loose white shirt and black breeches. He had short blond hair and was   
very handsome.   
   
   "Where's Jareth?" asked Amethyst.   
   
   The young man pointed to his right. They started that way. "Not the   
goblin and the lion, just you."   
   
   "He's right," said Amethyst. "Wait here. I'll be alright." She ran   
on up the stairs.   
   
   "Humph," said Hogwart sitting down. "Did'n want to go anyways."   
   
   Amethyst got to the top of the stairs and ran through an archway into   
the room. She glanced around the confusion of steps and pillars, arches    
and balconies. She could see Louis and Czeslaw high above her and she    
called out to them.   
   
   "Louis! Czes!"   
   
   They looked 'up'. "Athys!" "Am-thyst. You on the ceiling!"    
   
   "You don't say." She looked for the easiest way to them, she was   
feeling a little dizzy. She started up the nearest set of steps. Just   
as she got close to them they started running down the wall away from her.   
Louis leading Czeslaw by the hand, they were both laughing infectiously.   
"Louis! This isn't funny!" Then she noticed Jareth standing upside down   
at the other side of the room. She called over to him, "I hope your    
finding this amusing!"   
   
   "It loses its charm after a while, but it was part of the film so I    
kept it in just for you."   
   
   "I'm eternally grateful I'm sure," she said sarcastically. Letting   
them run off she continued, "Why did you let me sleep?"   
   
   "Well the general idea is that I stop you getting to the castle."   
   
   "I know that but..." Amethyst looked a little unsure. "I thought   
that you... that you were on my side. That you wanted to let me win."   
   
   "Why ever should I want to do that? This is no game Amethyst, I am   
playing for keeps. I have no intention of letting you slip through my   
fingers the way Sarah did. No you are staying here with me and your   
brothers too."   
   
   "But I always intended to stay here. Let them go."   
   
   "You lie! Once they are gone I have no hold over you, why should you   
stay then?"   
   
   "Because I want to."   
   
   He laughed. "How you turn my world you precious thing. You starve   
and near exhaust me. Everything I've done I've done for you! I move the    
stars for no-one." He began moving towards her. "You've run so long   
you've run so far. Your eyes can be so cruel. Just as I can be so    
cruel." He stopped though the music continued and then spoke the next    
line. "And I don't believe in you..."   
   
   "Well maybe you should." This had better work, thought Amethyst as she    
took a deep breath, fixed her eyes on Jareth and jumped off the edge to    
where the children sat below her.   
   
   It worked.   
   
   She fell slowly, as before, through the chunks of masonry to land on   
a floating piece of floor amongst the bobbing chunks and billowing   
white gauze. A light wind blew, chilling her, and Jareth stepped out of   
the shadows. He simply stood there, silent, watching her.   
   
   "You seduced me," she accused him.   
   
   "I didn't see you fighting," he countered. "Sarah was never so weak.   
It is only luck that you woke up in time to get here."   
   
   She walked toward him, "Why are you provoking me? I almost think you    
want to make me leave. Do you?"   
   
   He said nothing.   
   
   Fishing for a response Amethyst began, "Through dangers untold and    
hardships un-numbered I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the    
Goblin City to take back the child you have stolen from me."   
   
   He just stared at her.      
   
   "For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great."   
   
   Nothing.   
   
   Amethyst stopped. "For God's sake say something!"   
   
   "What would you have me say?   
   
   "Something! Anything! Don't just stand there like it's finished   
already. Do you have so little faith in me?"   
   
   "Perhaps you are right. Perhaps I do want you to leave."   
   
   "Bollocks!"   
   
   "What?"   
   
   "I said bollocks. I've never heard such a load of rubbish in my life.   
If you want me to stay then tell me to stay, order me to stay. If not   
then I'll go. But whatever happens you have to send the children back or    
Dad and Sarah will never forgive me."   
   
   "They're already gone."   
   
   "What?"   
   
   "I sent them back when you jumped. This is between you and I, they    
were not needed anymore. So now you can go too."   
   
   "I'm not going anywhere."   
   
   "You're not?"   
   
   "Of course not, you think I went through all that just to go back   
home like nothing ever happened? But hey if you want me to go that much   
then I will."   
   
   "No! ... I mean you don't have to go if you don't want to."   
   
   "Oh I see. Well if you put it like that, so romantically and all, then   
I guess I'll just have to stay. I mean it's not every day a girl almost   
gets an offer like that."   
   
   "You are teasing me."   
   
   "Well it serves you right. All the magic tricks and mind-bendery    
weren't necessary you know, you could've just asked. Although I have to    
admit it was rather romantic, candle light and soft music and all that.   
And the dress was stunning."   
   
   "You liked it?"   
   
   "Very much." She stepped closer to him and put on puppy dog eyes. "So   
you will condescend to let me stay?"   
   
   "I suppose so. But I expect a little more respect for your ruler than   
you have shown so far."   
   
   Amethyst stepped away from him and dropped to her knees. "Why of   
course, My Lord Jareth." He looked less than convinced. "But now I'd   
better get back to my fathers house before they get home."   
   
   "What?"   
   
   "I can't just disappear with no explanation can I?"   
   
   "Well you could but I see your point. I shall accompany you."   
   
   "If you like. What should I tell them?"   
   
   "The truth of course, unless you have some desire to lie."   
   
   "No. The truth then."   
   
(c) copyright Marysia , 1996


	2. Talking to the Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short story in the Amethyst series. Amethyst meets the Cat in the Hat in the Labyrinth.

The Amethyst Saga: Talking to The Cat   
by Amethyst   
   
It was a nice day and Amethyst enjoyed walking through the edges of the    
Labyrinth, careful not to stray too deep and get lost. The area she was in   
was quite cultivated and tidy; statues and neatly cut hedges, the stones   
clean and attractively carved. As she entered a small courtyard a creature   
dashed around another corner and screeched to a halt.   
   
"Hello my dear, it's nice to see   
 Another person here but me.   
 Sometimes it can be quite lonely,   
 Wandering here through walls so stoney."   
   
"The Cat in the Hat? Are you trying to find your way through the    
Labyrinth?" she asked.   
   
"I do not search,   
 I do not look.   
 I'm just that cat,   
 From out that book."   
   
"But what are you doing here?"   
   
"Why this is my home,   
 Although I roam,   
 My place is here   
 Where nothing's clear."   
   
"I suppose that makes sense, where else would the cat in the hat live?"   
   
She sat by a pool with a highly ornamental fountain in it's centre and    
gazed into the water. Brightly coloured shapes darted beneath the surface   
like streaks of paint.   
   
"How nice to sit and rest a while,   
 I feel as though we've walked a mile.   
 But to be peaceful I do not wish   
 So, I think I'll count the fish!"   
   
He flourished dramatically and struck a pose then as the fish leapt out the   
water like dolphins and hung in the air watching them he exclaimed...   
   
"One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.   
 Fast fish, slow fish, old fish, new fish!"   
   
Amethyst stared in amazement as the fish dropped back into the water. "If   
there are so many Dr Seuss characters here why haven't I seen any before?"   
she asked.   
   
"Why don't be foolish, don't be slow.   
 This place is huge or don't you know?   
 There's creatures here from every place,   
 It would take years to see each face.   
 And even then you won't be done,   
 It always changes. For where's the fun   
 In seeing nothing that is new,   
 In knowing what will be in view?"   
   
"I don't know, it doesn't sound much fun not knowing if someone will still   
be here tomorrow or not. At least I know Jareth will always be here."   
   
"The Goblin King you call by name,   
 It's true he always stays the same.   
 For every place must have a center   
 That chaos never ever enters.   
 For if there were no king to rule   
 The glass would shatter, the sun would cool   
 And all would vanish through a hole   
 And no more stories would be told."   
   
The cat looked grave. "What do you mean, no more stories would be told?"   
   
"To make you laugh, to make you cry,   
 A story must not be a lie.   
 And so it finds it's truth in here,   
 Where every story does appear.   
 Well every story worth a mention,   
 The ones that make you pay attention."   
   
"It seems impossible to believe, that every story is real here. Every   
character ever created."   
   
"Ah, but it is and that's what's clever,   
 The Labyrinth goes on forever.   
 But I must dash, it's time you see,   
 To cook green eggs and ham for tea.   
 I'll leave you with another fellow   
 Whose manner's easier to follow."   
   
And with that the cat ran off, humming a tune to itself, and Amethyst    
turned to see a goblin pop it's head around the corner.   
   
"I'm to come fetch you."   
   
"Okay." she took a last look in the direction the cat had gone then   
headed back to the castle.   
   
 


End file.
